Projects Who else has redone an 80's custom to an earlier era - Pics!

Charlie was one of my favorite HRM staffers growing up. The stories with his 38 sedan area good read, both the paint stripping tech and the road trip. Early-mid 80s.

 

I agree with ya, but what the guy should have done that built my Merc, if you are going
to copy a concept then follow the complete concept. If he would have done that it would
have looked a lot better.

 

Might have been easier to buy a newer transam and tack some merc bits on it than the other way around haha. I'll have much more appreciation for that rig the next time I see it that's for sure!


Posted using My Dick Tracy watch and the full custom HAMB app

 

No not really!

 

You guys are heroes. Keep up the good work!

 

The 80's truly were the lowest point for Hot Rods and customs. Really makes me want to puke. What were they thinking?

 

There were glimmers of hope, Ganahal and Baskerville shot some neat stuff for HRM. I still have a customs issue from about 84 that had some killer rides.

 

I don't know about Hot Rods because the street rod thing was going strong but for
Kustoms it was very important.

Early 80's were very important to me because it introduced me to Kustoms. Kustom
Kemps of America got its start in '81 in Wichita, Ks and I was there to witness the kool.
Jerry Titus has always asked "Where were you in '62?" I understand the question but I
wasn't born yet... My Question, "Where were you in 1981?" If it wasn't for the eighties
I wouldn't have been introduced to Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats and to Kustom Kemps
of America. Two groups that played an important part with in my kustom foundation. If it
wasn't for them who knows what I'd be doing.

 

I was born in 1967 and didn't get into customs until after Cobra came out in 1986. It's not the shining example of a traditional Mercury custom, but it got my attention. I remember seeing the Hirohata restoration pics in a ~1997 edition of Hot Rod as well.

I think that rendering looks like a Mercury that got absorbed by the Pontiac Banshee show car.

Mick how is the front part of the hood done on your car, has that ridge?

I love how you've saved that car and your rear skirts, well, they are worth copying I think (but I won't).

 

I agree, those covers were really important. Without the covers, the sweeping curved look was gone. Pretty cool concept, appropriate for the times.

 

Yes they were cool concepts given the timeframe. The Edsel sedan delivery mated with a Vette rear facia always moved me..............................but we are moving away from Ryans aim for this forum

Which, shows your timeframe/upbringing has an influence on your beliefs.

 

You lost me on that one. I believe we are talking about builds.

"2. Projects - Essentially, this prefix is reserved for build threads."

 

That Shoebox convertible posted earlier is a nice transformation.

 

I can't compete with Straycat's Merc, but here's some before and afters of my '52.

 

Wow, Mick, I remember that concept drawing but never knew it was the inspiration for the start of your Merc. I see the resemblance now....if I squint. You have certainly come a long way.

Mine is mid '90's build and is headed ever so slowly out of the 80's back into the early 50's. The only major accomplishment I have made in that direction...other than making it dependable and drivable...is to change out the smoothed and "modernized" dash back into a stock one. The ghost flames and fake Buick portholes in the hood still remain however....LOL

 

Seems like every "before" pic has either Briz bumpers or none at all. I think that was a signature 80's move.

 

Squablow great transformation, your engine redo is very inspiring. I have some work to do in that area.

 

All the cars on here are great , Squablow that 52 did do a turn around it sure looks great .

 

are those back to back Edsel grills??? that's freakin' sweet!

 

That is why I said we diverged from the focus, the Edsel concept was in one of the same issues or era as the Merc concept Mick posted.

 

We were just chatting a bit on what influenced the guy that owned Mick's Mercury prior to him to make it look that way.

I'll be honest, if I had not found the HAMB I would have built a car similar to the Mercury in Cobra. I had already bought the moon discs.

In some ways it's easier to redo the car, there are a lot of good pictures out there.

 

This white car is beautiful. I love that car.

 

So many cool features on that car, the '57 Capri hubcaps for example.

 

Does our shop car The Goldsmobile count?











Here is a link to the pic set on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cccstl/sets/72157621913790989/with/3896991758/

 

Oh my god!!!...lol.

 

It's amazing what the right paint job can do to get a custom to reflect a more traditional style. Well done!

-Dave

 

Definitely qualifies, nice job!

 

very very interesting ... and spectacular ! same question i'm asking myself for some time and hope to see a lot more

 

What drugs was the builder on to do something like that,I know I done some and drank heavy back in the 80s but would never have thought about doing that to a Merc or any old car. During the hazy days I got a few old cars on the road but nothing like that,now the interior in my 37 Chevy p/u I get wondering about since I quit the hard stuff and slowed down on my drinking by then.

 

Why didnt I come up with the idea to start this thread first? I've lost count on how many cars we had to rewind the clock on... style wise. . The sad thing is there still alot of f*ckin nerds out there building street rods. We all know little things count...We recently picked up a 50 Chevy Hardtop. Had a pair of big ass puffy green, yellow and PURPLE dice dangling from the mirror.. First thing I did was rip that shit off and chunk it in the trash.


Heres a few we "redid". Nothing fancy, just drivers
57





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Never Did get this truck the way I wanted it. I took it down to bare metal (as well as the dash) and put some different wheels on it, it desperately needed to be slammed, but it sold before we could do anything else to it.... i was glad





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Check out the "skills" that went into these flames...not





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40.. Car had a later model steering column sadly, nothing a flake wheel cant fix. Well Kinda..
Had some ugly ass later model seats too. I cut the neck rests off and tossed some blankies over them. It'll Do